In its first six episodes, the new season of Twin Peaks lays a strong emphasis on watching, video and surveillance. Screens are everywhere, people keep each other constantly in sight and electronic images seem omnipresent.

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This constant “game” of preying on other people’s intimacy is of course highly reminiscent of BOB’s attitude towards Laura and her secret diary, raped of its inviolability by this otherworldly parasite. It is also possible that this has something to do with the Illuminati, which Mark Frost discusses in his book The Secret History of Twin Peaks. The secret society uses the Eye of Providence as one of its main symbols, as do the Freemasons. But since Frost clearly associates the former with the idea of evil and describes the latter as a force for good, it makes sense to link all the surveillance in Twin Peaks to the Illuminati.

It is a well known fact that Frank Silva was chosen by David Lynch to play the role of BOB in the original series due to his accidental appearance in a mirror, at the end of the pilot, after Sarah Palmer’s “vision” .

So far, we have only seen Laura’s mother once in the new season, for several minutes. She is pictured seated on her sofa at home, chain smoking as always, while watching a nature program on television about… animals preying on each other. Behind her, as in the original Twin Peaks, one sees mirrors that reflect the images from the television screen. As the camera reveals her intense viewing of the violent program, briefly, on the top of the left mirror, an image similar to BOB’s apparition appears: the sight of the camera operator’s hand and his camera.

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Was this the result of a mistake on the part of David Lynch’s team? A mistake highly reminiscent of BOB’s first appearance on our screens? An appearance that took place above the very same character? One can doubt the accidental nature of this moment and possibly read it as an artist’s statement. Of course, it’s impossible to say if that’s indeed the case. But since surveillance plays such a central role in the new Twin Peaks, let’s bet that this might prove a worthwhile path for further reflection concerning the series.